New 25-Story Office Tower Proposed for Downtown P&L District

City tax incentives would help finance the proposed 25-story Strata office project west of the H&R Block building, part of an effort to attract new jobs downtown. (Image from BNIM and HOK)

By Kevin Collison

A 25-story tower that would be the first multi-tenant office building built downtown since 1991 is being proposed for the block southwest of 13th and Main in the Power & Light District.

The $132 million project, called Strata, would be located on what’s called Block 124, and would be built above the existing retail structure that includes The Yard House restaurant and Joseph A. Bank clothing store.

If it wins the necessary city approval, construction would begin Fall 2019 with completion in Fall 2021. The existing retailers would continue operating throughout construction, according to the developer.

The speculative office project is intended to help downtown Kansas City respond quickly to potential new private employers.

Last summer, Starbucks decided not to locate a 1,000-employee operation in downtown because of the lack of readily available new office space.
The Strata office tower would be the multi-tenant development since 1991. (Image from HOK and BNIM)

“The Class A market is fairly small and tight,” developer Jon Copaken told a meeting of the Port KC board. “There hasn’t been a new multi-tenant building since 1201 Walnut in 1991.

“We’re here because the city is recognizing jobs are being lost…We think the time is right to put this project together.”

Port KC is being asked to finance a 750-space garage for the Strata project. The plan calls for the building to include 16 levels of office and seven levels of parking above the existing two-story retail building.

When the Power & Light District agreement was approved by the city in 2004, Block 124 was envisioned to be the site of a potential second tower for H&R Block, which opened its headquarters across the street in 2007.

The block’s retail building was developed with foundations capable of supporting an office tower.
Block 124 (center) is the block between Main and Baltimore, from 13th to 14th streets immediately west of the H&R Block headquarters. (Image from Google Maps)

H&R Block continues to have the development rights to Block 124, and has agreed to participate with Copaken Brooks and Ron Jury of Jury & Associates in a development entity called Power Tower.

The 250,000 square-foot Strata tower would include a rooftop terrace. It’s being designed by BNIM and HOK architects, and J.E. Dunn Construction would be the contractor.

Under the terms of the original 2004 Power & Light District, the city was obligated to provide 1,330 parking spaces to the potential office tower to be developed there.

Under the new proposal, the parking obligation would be slashed to 750 spaces. That would cut the city’s commitment to the project from $69 million to $36 million.

“The city has an obligation to build twice as much parking,” Copaken said. “This is actually a big savings.”
(Left) Jon Copaken briefs Jon Stephens, president and CEO of Port KC, and the agency board about the Strata office tower project.

Under a financing plan that still requires City Council approval, Port KC would finance and own the garage. The authority would use revenues generated from parking fees and what’s called an Advanced Industrial Manufacturing (AIM) Zone.

AIM allows part of the state employee withholding taxes generated by employees in the new project to help finance its cost. The developers estimate the project would create 1,000 permanent jobs. No tenants however, have been lined up for project.

An ordinance introduced to the City Council calls for the city to guarantee the Port KC revenues for the garage project.

It also would appropriate $27 million from the city toward construction of the office tower. The estimated cost of the office component itself is $94 million.

Copaken said while there’s risk involved with building a project without firm tenants lined up, its necessary to quickly seize opportunities like Starbucks when they come up.

“It always would be great to have tenants, but in today’s world, it’s harder to get people to wait through long time frames,” he said.